Azariah Dickinson[1] was born in Haddam, Middlesex County, Connecticut, 17 Jul 1733,[2] son of Azariah and Hepsibah (Walkeley) Dickinson, He was the third of his name in a row descended from Joseph Dickinson, one of the sons of Nathanial and Ann (Bench) (Gull) Dickinson. Azariah “removed to Westminster before 1758”; he died in Westminster, Windham County, Vermont, 11 Jul 1808.

Azariah was married in Connecticut, ca 1754, to Temperance Shipman, believed by this writer to have been his only wife. Temperance was born in Haddam, Middlesex Co CT, in 1734, daughter of Abraham and Ruth (Butler) Shipman, She died Westminster, Windham Co CT, 19 Mar 1794.

“The Dickinson family have been associated with the history of the town for more than a hundred years. Theirs, it is said, was the third permanent settlement in the town. Dan and Azariah were two of the nine that constituted the church at the time it was organized in 1767. They came from Haddam, Ct., and their father’s name was Azariah. They settled in the south part of the town; Dan where Dea. Abiel Goodell afterwards lived, on the hill road to Putney, and Azariah on the middle road, on what is now a part of the Ward farm, nearly opposite where Zachariah Gilson settled. They both have descendants now living in town. Azariah had two sons, Cyrus and Job. Cyrus had two sons, Harvey and Alvin. Job had two sons, Job and Ephraim, and five daughters, one of whom married Heman Goodridge, and another became the wife of Jazaniah Hunt and settled in Westminster.”[3]

Another page of the same book states that Azariah Dickinson was a founding member of the Orthodox Congregational Church in Westminster 11 Jun 1767. It is not clear if this refers to the father or the son.[4]

The Westminster, Windham Co VT genweb site provides a transcript of the “Westminster” chapter of Rev. Fairbanks’s book, revealing how “Hepsibah Chipman,” sometimes called the first wife of Azariah III, was really an alternative name given for Hepsibah Walkeley, the wife of Azariah II and mother of Azariah III. Therefore, as expected, it appears the only wife of Azariah III was Temperance Shipman. The couple’s first son was named for her father, the second for his.[5]

Azariah “Dickenson” was listed in the 1771 census, Westminster Co VT. In 1790, he was listed in Westminster Township (Westminster, Windham Co VT, p 128: 3/1/3), as were his brothers Job, Daniel and John Dickinson. The three males over 16 were probably Azariah II and Azariah III, and John, while sonCyrus was under 16. In 1800, he was in the same township, p 647: 00201/00000.

Azariah Dickinson III and his wife Temperance Shipman had the following children:

1. Abraham DICKINSON. Born on 14 Sep 1758 in Westminster, Windham Co VT. Abraham died in Dummerston, Windham Co VT, on 11 Nov 1824. In 1784 when Abraham was 25, he married Jane CAMPBELL in Putney, Windham Co VT. Born ca 1757 in Dummerston, Windham Co VT. Jane died in Dummerston, Windham Co VT, on 19 Sep 1834. Although his name is not spelled consistently, Abraham was in the 1790 and 1800 censuses in Westminster and the 1810 and 1820 censuses in Dummerston, Windham Co VT. His son David was also in the 1820 census in Dummerston. They had the following children:

i.David (1785-1857)

ii.Betsy (1787-)

iii.Jane (1790-1867)

iv.Sarah (1793-)

v.William (1796-)

2. Hepsibah DICKINSON. Born on 25 Jun 1760 in Westminster, Windham Co VT. Intentions to marry were filed in Putney, 15 May 1781 between Hepsibah and Joseph JOY, son of Obadiah JOY & Elizabeth DOYLE. Born in 1757 in Rehoboth, Bristol Co MA. Joseph died in Putney, Windham Co VT, on 28 May 1837. They had these children:

i.Joseph

ii.Huldah

iii.Temperance (-1886)

3. Mary DICKINSON. Born on 14 Dec 1761 in Westminster, Windham Co VT. Mary died in Chautauqua Co NY, on 1 Jun 1831. On 25 Apr 1785, she married David JOY, son of Obadiah JOY & Elizabeth DOYLE, in Putney, Windham Co VT, and brother-in-law of her sister, Hepsibah (Dickinson) Joy. Born in say 1762 in Rehoboth, Bristol Co MA. David died in Cass Co MI, on 1 Apr 1844.[6] Mary appears to have been the only member of her family to leave Vermont. David and Mary had these children:

i.Isaac (1786-1850)

ii.Moses (1793-1854)

iii.Ezra (1787-)

iv.Dorrill (1790-)

v.Polly (1774-)

vi.Roxalana (ca1788-1867)

vii.Anna (1795-1845)

viii.Obadiah (1803-)

4. Temperance DICKINSON. Born on 23 Jun 1764. Temperance died in 1839. On 27 Nov 1788 when Temperance was 24, she married Benjamin RAND Jr in Westminster, Windham Co VT. Born in 1765. They had the following children:

6. Lucy DICKINSON. Born on 15 Aug 1767 in Putney, Windham Co VT. On 15 Nov 1787 when Lucy was 20, she married Lucas WILSON Jr, son of Lucas WILSON (or Willson) and Sarah CORBIN, in Putney, Windham Co VT. He was born on 15 May 1767 and was a cousin of Joseph and David Joy, them being grandsons from the first marriage of Elizabeth (Sprague) (Doyle) Wilson and Lucas Wilson a grandson from the second. They had the following children, all registered in Putney:

i.Phaney (1789-)

ii.Rachel (1792-)

iii.Hanah (1794-)

iv.Ezelphy (1796-)

v.Lucy (1798-)

vi.Chloa (1800-)

vii.John Corbin (1802-)

viii.Sarah (1805-)

7. David DICKINSON. Born on 20 Jun 1769 in Westminster, Windham Co VT. David died in Ludlow, Windsor Co VT, on 14 Aug 1825. On 10 Aug 1796, he married Rhoda ADAMS, daughter of Levi ADAMS & Mary Becky PERRY, in Andover, Windsor Co VT. Born on 21 Feb 1777 in New Ipswich, Hillsborough Co NH. Rhoda died on 5 Feb 1873; she was 95. They had the following children:

9. John DICKINSON. Born on 10 Apr 1773 in Westminster, Windham Co VT. John died on 13 Aug 1853. 1820 Weathersfield, Windsor Co VT: John Dickinson, 000010/30010; 1830 Weathersfield: John Dickerson, 01000001/001; 1840 Weathersfield, Windsor Co VT, along with Cyrus and David. He was possibly living in 1850 in Pomfret, Windsor Co VT, in home of John and Lydia (b ca 1816) Gould. John probably had three daughters and maybe a son.

11. Cyrus DICKINSON. Born on 7 Dec 1779 in Westminster, Windham Co VT. Cyrus died in Putney, Windham Co VT, on 2 Jan 1846. On 16 Jan 1804, he first married Lucy C ADAMS, daughter of Jonas ADAMS & Phebe HOAR, in Westminster. Born on 22 Mar 1784 in New Ipswich, Hillsboough Co NH. Lucy C died on 4 Feb 1813; she was a first cousin of Cyrus’s sister-in-law Roda Adams. They had the following children:

i.Harvey (1805-)

ii.Alvan (1808-)

iii.(daughter) (1813-)

Cyrus married second ca 1819 Henrietta CHANDLER. They had one child:

i.Levi Adams (1822-)

[1]In common with other Dickinson families in New England, his name and that used for his children varies with Dickinson, Dickenson, Dickerson and other spellings used interchangeably.

[3]The History of Windham County, “Westminster” by Rev FJ Fairbanks, copied from the Windham Co VT GenWeb site, 14 Apr 2002. Another site, First Families of Westminster gives these citations: Fairbanks, 584, 598, 618; Gravestones, Gilson Cem, Westminster; Gravestones, Old East Parish Cemetery, Westminster; Westminster Town Records. This site also says that Azariah II “married Hepzebah Walkeley on 30 Nov 1732 at Haddam, Middlesex Co CT. She is called Hepzibah Chapman by Fairbanks.”

Fairbanks also wrote a section called Dickinson Families, dealing with Azariah II and his sons who moved with him to Vermont. “Azariah, Dan and Job. Their father, Azariah, died in Haddam, 1788, aged 79. Dan married Margaret Goodell. Children:

1. John (Orwell, Vt.); 3 children.

2. Elizabeth, married Samuel Lord, of Putney, father to Zenas and 9 others.

3. Dan, jr., removed to the State of New York. Several children (p. 584).

[4] As soon as there was a prospect of a permanent settlement in Westminster, measures were taken to organize a church, and in the terms of the original grant, to “settle a learned and orthodox minister,” from which time to the present, Orthodox Congregationalism has held the rule throughout the town. The only exception being the formation of a Baptist Society in 1782, whose membership was mostly from the West Parish; and a movement to provide for “liberal preaching” one-fourth part of the time during the ministry of Rev. Mr. Sage, which resulted in the erection of a new house of worship in the East Parish.

Both of these movements appear to have been short lived.

The church in the East Parish began its existence with nine members, one of whom was the pastor-elect, on the 11th of June, 1767. The names of those who composed the church at that time were: Rev. Jesse Goodell, William Willard, Ephraim Ranney, Bildad Andros, John Sessions, Dan Dickinson, Zachariah Gilson, John French, and Azariah Dickinson.

1. The first son is named for Temperance (Shipman) Dickinson’s father, Abraham.

2. Chipman family records show no Hepsibah, this age, married to a Dickinson.

3. Although it was fairly common for a daughter of a later marriage to be named for an earlier wife, why would a first wife name a daughter for a later wife, i.e., Temperance, born several years before the supposed second marriage?

4. Azariah Dickinson was in Westminster, Windham Co VT, as early as 1767. It is doubtful he would have returned to Connecticut for a new wife, leaving four or five small children in Vermont. The Shipman family was still in Connecticut and stayed there for years after this marriage took place.

one of my ancestors was Belinda Dickinson,
daughter of David and Rhoda Dickinson…
your site for some (pleasant) reason is clear and confirmatory,
sometimes difficult given the large number of
Azariahs that made up David’s father and on back…
thanks…Eric Edwards